Topeka ? A bill drafted in response to the case of a Newton couple accused of physically and sexually abusing mentally ill adults in their care is headed to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

It would require group homes with two to four residents to obtain a state license. Larger group homes for the mentally ill are licensed by the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

The Newton center was operated by Arlan and Linda Kaufman, who avoided licensing requirements by changing their operation so that no more than four people under their care resided in any one home.

The Kaufmans face 35 criminal charges in federal court. They have pleaded not guilty to all counts.

One charge against the Kaufmans involves an allegation that in 1999, residents of their center were forced to work in the nude on a farm in Potwin, about 50 miles southeast of Newton.

Prosecutors also allege the couple improperly obtained nearly $217,000 from the federal Medicare program, forced group home residents to perform sexually explicit acts and videotaped sexual contacts.

“This closes all the loopholes to prevent future Kaufman-type cases from cropping up,” said Rocky Nichols, director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.

Group homes in which residents are directing their own mental health care are exempt from the rules.

Nichols said the bill also gives the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services new authority to obtain court orders shutting down homes that ignore state enforcement orders.

But a proposal sought by disability rights advocates that would have made it more difficult to end a person’s life-sustaining medical care when the person did not have a living has faltered.

The bill passed the House 95-29 on Friday but was assigned to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, where Committee Chairman Jim Barnett said he plans no action on it this year.

Barnett, R-Emporia, said in his 23 years of practice as a physician, families have always “erred on the side of life.

“It needs to be handled in a very personal way, rather than through the courts, if possible,” he said.